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Dana Sachs

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The Secret of the Nightingale Palace: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Dana Sachs (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 1,060 ratings

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Struggling to move on after her husband's death, thirty-five-year-old Anna receives an unexpected phone call from her estranged grandmother, Goldie, summoning her to New York. A demanding woman with a sharp tongue and a devotion to fashion and etiquette, Goldie has not softened in the five years since she and her granddaughter last spoke. Now she wants Anna to drive her to San Francisco to return a collection of exquisite Japanese art to a long-lost friend.

Hours of sitting behind the wheel of Goldie's Rolls-Royce soften Anna's attitude toward her grandmother, and as the miles pass, old hurts begin to heal. Yet no matter how close they become, Goldie harbors painful secrets about her youthful days in 1940s San Francisco that she cannot share. But if she truly wants to help her granddaughter find happiness again, she must eventually confront the truths of her life.

Moving back and forth across time and told in the voices of both Anna and Goldie, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace is a searing portrait of family, betrayal, sacrifice, and forgiveness—and a testament to the enduring power of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This cross-generational road trip spans both the continent and the years as an estranged grandmother and granddaughter reconnect while driving from New York to San Francisco on a mysterious mission to return a collection of Japanese art to its rightful owner. While Anna, a 35-year-old widow unable and unwilling to move forward with her life, and Goldie, a waspishly stylish octogenarian, drive across the country, Goldie shares some well-hidden secrets from her life in San Francisco in the 1940s, including her passionately tangled relationship with a Japanese family. After undertaking this enlightening trip down memory lane with her grandmother, Anna is finally able to acknowledge and come to grips with her own emotional paralysis. As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this one does feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An ideal recommendation for the book-club set. --Margaret Flanagan

Review

“This is Dana Sachs’s best yet. THE SECRET OF THE NIGHTINGALE PALACE is a charming story, beautifully told. Her prose puts one in mind of the Japanese prints she writes about: colorful, spare, and evocative.” (George Bishop, author of Letter to My Daughter)

“As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this onedoes feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An idealrecommendation for the book-club set.” (Booklist)

“Dana Sachs’s beautifully written novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, is so pitch perfect that you’ll be sad when it’s over. A gifted storyteller, Sachs has created a multi-generational page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. Brilliant!” (Celia Rivenbark, author of You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl)

“Sachs’ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters you’ll warm up to, the two different storylines will enrapture you as well....Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed.” (RT Book Reviews (top pick))

“[A] satisfying story...Goldie’s lesson to her granddaughter becomes obvious: we must move past our losses to “make out own parties.” I won’t give away the twist at the end but will say every time I think of teh way Goldie made her own party, I smile.” (Historical Novels Review)

“Old-fashioned in the best of ways, this story of a grandmother and granddaughter-revisiting the past in order to chart the future-has all the romantic elegance of the ‘62 Silver Cloud in which they zoom across the country.” (Michael Lowenthal, author of The Paternity Test and Charity Girl)

“[A] graceful exploration of the human heart. With her signature elegance, she examines the burden of family secrets and how the complexities of culture can both divide and unite at the same time... this hypnotic, satisfying novel will linger in your thoughts long after you finish the last page.” (Kim Fay, author of The Map of Lost Memories)

“Sachs takes us from fury to laughter and loss to healing as the true value of a Japanese treasure is finally revealed.” (Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS)

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0089LOI2I
Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (February 19, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 19, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4205 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #404,554 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #827 in Women's Psychological Fiction
- #2,279 in U.S. Historical Fiction
- #3,036 in Mothers & Children Fiction

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4.4 1,060 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Constant Reader

Captivating Story

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2017

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A Kindle Deal, an intriguing title, and good cover design lead me to buy this book which is by an author who was new to me. What a happy purchase! My progress indication was not very far along when I noticed that I really did not want to put the book down. This is the story of Goldie. It alternates between present-day Goldie, the prickly 80-something grandmother and Goldie the 20-something naïve shop girl in San Francisco trying to make her way out of poverty in the early 1940s. Goldie has coerced her 35- year-old recently widowed granddaughter Anna to drive her from New York City to San Francisco to return a priceless book of Japanese prints. Young Goldie’s story is told mainly in flashbacks to the time when she arrived hungry and penniless in San Francisco to stay with her sister while working at Feld’s department store. Goldie is young and looking for a way to better herself and escape from Memphis. She is aware that her best shot for prosperity and security is to make a good marriage. Young Mr. Feld seems to be a good prospect, and Goldie hopes that being one of the few Jewish woman at the store may help her prospects. Goldie’s friendship with the talented young window dresser of Japanese descent opens her eyes to adventure, fun, beauty, and elegance. Mayumi lives with her family in the Nightingale Palace where her father is the caretaker of the Japanese Garden. Her friendship with Mayumi and her family is rich and it changes her life. Young Goldie is an interesting character who alternates between naïve ignorance and keen perception. Through the flashbacks we learn about life in the early forties with a special focus on San Francisco. The details at the department store and in the city, are engaging. Even secondary characters are well developed and important as more than plot devices. I loved both Mr. Blankenship and Naveen. The reader knows that the attack on Pearl Harbor will change everything but Goldie does not. The internment of Japanese Americans is personal here since Mayumi and her family are taken away. Meanwhile, the road trip in Bridget, the Rolls Royce continues to unfold. All is not sweetness and light in the car, but it is a wonderful story, told well. It is a story of hope, of love, of sadness, of loss, and of life. We all carry sorrows and faces obstacles through our lives, and this novel does not deny those or minimize them. It does show people who carry those losses and sorrows with grace and go on to live good lives. This book would have a been a good value even at full price, but I am grateful for the deal that caught my attention.

15 people found this helpful

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rm

A delightful read

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2017

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This book was very enjoyable. I found that some parts of the story was a little choppy. At times it jumped from great details to days later, leaving me wondering more about conversations/dialogue that I would have liked to be in on. The story overall was good. It's always nice to read about different generations connecting. The Japanese culture and the details of the encampments were very interesting and added another dimension to the story. I would recommend this book to others who would like a light read.

4 people found this helpful

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S. GThank you for your inquiry. TThThank you for your inquiry. ank you for your inquiry. hank you for your inquiry. . MaThank you for your inquiry. cKinnon

Wonderful book if you like family/personal growth stories

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

It kills me how I agonize over whether to buy a "free" book. It is because I have so many books on my Kindles that I doubt I can read them all before I die (I am 67.) This book had a few low reviews but I got it anyway. I loved it. I could not put it down. The ending slayed me! Read this book if you like books about self-examination, guilt, love stories, history, etc. Wonderful book. I sort of wish I could erase it from my memory and read it again, but that might mean I have dementia and I have learned to be careful what you wish for.

2 people found this helpful

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Utopian Dreamer

A delightful surprise

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2015

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This book was not at all what I expected. I chose it mainly on the basis of the title, warmly recalling a samurai adventure titled "Across the Nightingale Floor" that I had enjoyed. It was a bit disorienting to discover that it was about a widowed Jewish girl from Memphis rebuilding her relationship with her elderly grandmother. The deftly nuanced novel segued back and forth between Anna gradually finding her way back to active living and the young Goldie in 1941 San Francisco learning about life, love, and elegance. The historical detail about the start of World War II, prejudice, and the internment of Japanese-Americans added satisfying depth to the story. Definitely a worthwhile read.

5 people found this helpful

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Ellen

Gets better as the Journey continues

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2014

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It took me over 50% of the book to get into it. For my taste, there was too much detail about insignificant things and I was turned off by the Grandmother’s pronouncements and opinions. I would rate it a 3.5 because it did evoke some reflection and had a couple of useful messages, and I especially liked the ending. And, I learned new things about WWII and the Liberty boat explosion at Bari, Italy. Not sure that I would recommend it, given several other books I’ve read recently that were terrific (such as Orphan Train; The Orchardist; The Round House; The Light Between Oceans). But, in retrospect, I enjoyed the last half and found it worth finishing. Perhaps I missed some things that would have enabled me to rate it higher.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

"Does every marriage have its own damn secret?"

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Of course the answer to that question is yes, at least in my opinion and apparently in the opinion of this author. Sachs tells stories within stories. The book is uneven, at times it verges on being trite and predictable. And those times are exactly when I miss the foreshadowing for a bit of brilliant plot. For all I know, Sachs planned her work this way. But I have to admit she got me several times, not just once at the end.

The main character of the story is Anna who undertakes a cross country voyage with her grandmother in a Rolls Royce. I do love the touch of the Rolls Royce. Both characters get mired in the forementioned shallows, but they do not last long enough for me to indict this book as boring. And yes, the story line saves itself every time. I am always a sucker for a story about Japanese art within the context of a life, and this book does indeed include the subtext of a book of exquisite art. The story also includes scenes from her grandmother's distant past that address the whole issue of the Japanese at the time of WWII. AND, the fashions are great. I always said a little money helps any story, and this is no exception.

So I would advise you to read this book. ANd if you hit a quagmire, hang in for a just a few pages. I thought Anna was pretty stock, but the grandmother is wonderful and full of pockets of surprise. Take a trip in a Rolls, I bet this would be your only chance.

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